Using up the bits & pieces

Mar 24, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: Bobbie's Store, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

watching my pennies

Today is an extra challenge for clearing our those bits & pieces I have around the kitchen. It’s not a challenge because it’s so little, but rather because I want to use as much as possible so I won’t  have to take a  lot back with me to Madrid, plus I don’t want to spend money on any other ingredients. Again, I really hate waste!

Here’s a list of a few things that must be used in the next few days:

6 bananas

bacon

2 hot dog buns

a jar of homemade chili I canned last year

5 chicken hot dogs

1 turnip

4 strawberries

1 stock of broccoli

5 carrots

the last loaf of homemade bread ( I usually make 5 loaves at a time which lasts me for 1 week including all the guests we have)

7 corn muffins

1/2 of  homemade croutons

1/2 a jar of cooked garbanzo (chick peas) beans (which I canned myself last year)

8 eggs

I’m still in the village and don’t have access to my entire pantry, but still we have plenty to eat.

Ok, here’s some of my thinking for today.

Breakfast: John had eggs sausage & potatoes

I had 3 mandarins & toast with smashed garbanzo beans, a drizzle of olive oil & salt~ wow that’s good!

Lunch:

1st plate: leftover pasta salad

2nd plate: 3 chicken  hot dogs wrapped in bacon fried, with the jar of chili over the top, roasted carrots, turnip & broccoli with salt & olive oil

Supper/dinner:

I went ahead and made these while preparing the mid-day meal: Sandwiches that will be toasted in a skillet this evening of: homemade bread, mozzarella cheese, and I popped open a jar of roasted red peppers that I canned last year. We try to end the day with a little lighter meal and eat our largest meal of the day at 2pm.

Tomorrows breakfast I  ‘prepped’ today also, 2 hard boiled eggs, with which I will make a creamed curry sauce over corn muffins & on the side, 1 sliced banana with sliced strawberries.

I also took out 2 of the bacon wrapped hot dogs, put them in the 2 last  hot dog buns and grated a wee bit of mozzarella cheese over them a bit of Dijon mustard and wrapped them up for our ‘on the road’ lunch tomorrow. I ‘ll also make an extra sandwich for John of toasted peanut-butter  & banana sandwich.

Supper for me will be another yummy garbanzo bean paste toast & leftover chili for John with a corn muffin

So, here is the new list using what  have:

6 4 bananas

1 pk 1/2 pk bacon

2 hot dog buns

a jar of homemade chili I canned last year

5 chicken hot dogs

1 turnip

4 strawberries

1 stock of broccoli 1/2 stock of broccoli

5 3 carrots

the last loaf of homemade bread ( I usually make 5 loaves at a time which lasts me for 1 week including all the guests we have) 3/4 loaf left

7 3 corn muffins

1/2 of  homemade croutons

1/2 a jar of cooked garbanzo (chick peas) beans (which I canned myself last year)

8 6 eggs ( from my 3 hens)

What to do with Bananas?

Mar 23, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, recipes, saving money

OK, this quest of mine to use what I have has brought me to this question: “what do I do with the 8 bananas that I have?”  I’m trying to have a ‘smoothie’ each day with 1 banana…+  some strawberries and milk but I’m in the ‘village’ right now and don’t have my ‘lite/low-fat’ milk… so I can’t have too many of those! Here is a fun website I found for using bananas:

http://www.endlesssimmer.com/2010/05/17/100-things-to-do-with-a-banana/

I have several packets of frozen ‘very ripe’ bananas in the freezer for banana bread… but really how much of that stuff can we  eat? Don’t want to freeze anymore bananas.  I want to eat all of them…every last one, enjoy and be thankful for every bite. When we get back home, I’m going to try this banana recipe:  Spicy Banana Zucchini Balls Looks ‘interesting’. There has got to be more uses for bananas than bread & smoothies!

Today:

Breakfast:

John: leftovers ( we have eggs, & sausage from guests we had last week)

Bobbie:  1 piece of toast (leftover) with cream cheese + 1 mandarin

Lunch:

1st plate: Spicy Red bean & potato soup (which I canned last year) & left over corn muffins

2nd plate: will be that last cooking banana (plantain) sliced in strips and fried, salad, leftover chicken picata with pasta bows & zucchini & some hot dogs in puff pastry that I had left over. Basically a little bit of everything!

Supper (dinner):

toasted cheese sandwiches w/ the bread I made last week, the mozzarella cheese I have in the fridge and grilled zucchini.

Pantry Essentials

Mar 22, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge, recipes, saving money

I try and keep my  pantry and freezer well-stocked with a variety of canned, dried and frozen goods that I  know we’ll love to eat. Canned beans, frozen vegetables, meat and fish and dried fruit, nuts, pasta & noodles, rice & grains, are all essentials with a long shelf life – meaning I will always have the ingredients standing by to pull together a delicious meal or to jazz up my leftovers. The trick is to replace items once you have used them up. I keep a running list.

I use my  pantry to create meals from leftovers. Any spare fresh tomatoes could be added to some canned ones to make a great topping for pizza. Rice would turn leftover chicken and wrinkly peppers into a delicious summer salad. Add a can of lentils to my ground beef meat to make it stretch further. John actually prefers a rice crust for quiche rather than pastry. It’s easy to do:

rice

RICE CRUST:

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It Pays to Plan

Mar 16, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    5 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Grocery Challenge, recipes, saving money, Spain

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Planning  meals is one of the most effective ways I can cut waste and Read more »

A Date with the Fridge

Mar 15, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll

Homemade bread I made this morning.

Start saving money right now by making a date with your fridge! Open it up and look to see what needs to be used up and plan menus around those items. Sounds simple right? But I’m always so surprised to hear  people say that they throw out so much food or don’t plan their meals.

Homemade bread is so simple to make… Read more »

Using what’s in the fridge today

Mar 14, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

My full fridge

Here’s a shot of my very full refrigerator!This week will be dedicated to emptying it the best I can. We have pizza,  carrot/butternut soup, beef fried rice, lots of veggies,  plain rice & more. The eggs I’m saving for the guests we have coming this week. Remember that my… Read more »

Pizza Party a Success!!

Mar 13, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll

Last night we had 27 new believers and  ‘seekers’ for an evening to fun & pizza. Here are some photos of the night. Thanks to all who have been praying for this event. Thank you Cathy for telling me you were praying specifically. It made my busy day considerable better.

I made 12 pizzas.

Saturdays Meals

Mar 12, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: Baking, Grocery Challenge, photos, recipes, saving money

Homemade pizza

Today is a big day for me in the kitchen. Making pizza for 25 is going to be a ton of work, but I’ll begin the chopping and shredding early in the day. I’ll start the dough  and get that in the fridge early on.  It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m not using the grocery $ for this, but instead my personal allowance. That was I can stay on track with my saving for the upcoming trip to Germany in 2012.

Here’s my menu for today:

Breakfast:

John: Corn muffins, egg, & leftovers

Bobbie: 2 kiwi’s

Lunch:

We’re having all the LEFTOVERS in the fridge… including the soups, and stir fry.

Supper:

Pizza, salad & cake… this is what I’m serving for our guests but we’ll probably skip the cake.

party time!

What to do with the leftover rice…

Mar 11, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

white rice

I cleaned out the entire fridge and re-organized it. I have one shelf in the pantry organized and I found a packet of  stir fry seasoning mix that our friends from church sent to us. It’s the last one of it’s kind.

Here’s my plan: Read more »

Raiding the Pantry

Mar 10, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

eggs

It’s just great having chickens!! It’s like a gift I receive everyday when I go outside to collect the 3 eggs. 3 chickens=3 eggs.

Here’s what on the menu for today: Read more »

Todays Menu

Mar 9, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    3 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

saving my pennies

At the beginning of each month I make an internet order for groceries to be delivered to me at the house. It saves me several hours of my  time and only costs 6€ for the delivery, which is what I would spend on gas to go to the same market. Time & money… I’m all about saving both.

I mentioned at the beginning of the week… Read more »

Todays Menu~ using what I have

Mar 8, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    5 Comments    Posted under: food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

… and I have good stuff! Today’s menu looks like this:

Breakfast:

love the fresh eggs!

John: Baked oatmeal

Bobbie: Baked oatmeal Read more »